Madeira
September 18, 2023
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On Day 3, I took the cable car up the mountainside in Funchal to visit the parish of Monte, a suburb of Funchal high up towards the tree line.
One of the main attractions in Monte is the Monte Palace Hotel and gardens. Originally a residence of the English consul Charles Murray,
it is on a 70,000 square metre property south of the Monte Church.
In 1897, it was bought by Alfredo Guilherme Rodrigues, who built a palatial residence here, and then transformed it into a hotel named the Monte Palace Hotel. The gardens now has
some 100,000 plant species from all over the world, plus lots of stonework, several Buddhist sculptures, Japanese-style arches and gardens, stone lanterns, and a large collection of
tile art (15th-20th century). In addition, the gardens are filled with several ponds and lakes with multiple majestic swans, peacocks, turtles and Asian Koi fish.
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Above: The entrance to the Monte Palace, .
1 Madonna of Muizenberg (1983), by Jean Doyle.
2 to 4 is the African Passion sculpture exhibit, carvings from the 1960's (Madeira, although part of Portugal, is directly west of Morocco).
5 to 9 are famous kings of Portugal, mentioned in a 2006 poll of the greatest Portuguese people ever.
5 King Afonso Henriques (1139-1185), founder of the country of Portugal, top king and ranked 4th overall.
6 King Afonso III (1248-1279), 5th king of Portugal, who developed Lisbon and took over the Algarve, ranked 65th overall.
7 King Denis I(1279-1325), 6th king of Portugal, creation of the country's first university, ranked 24th overall.
8 King Joćo I (1385-1433), 10th king of Portugal, won the succession war with Castille, ranked 24th overall.
9 King Joćo II (1481-1495), 13th king of Portugal, restoring exploration and discovering Madeira, Azores, visiting Africa and Asia, ranked 6th overall.
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